


After the Fall, Before the Rebirth

by Paranoixa



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Bounty Hunters, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-18 21:24:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11883117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paranoixa/pseuds/Paranoixa
Summary: Years after the rise of the Empire, Ahsoka's settled into life as a bounty hunter. She's on an assignment when she runs into a familiar face that makes her reconsider her role in the universe.





	After the Fall, Before the Rebirth

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what I'm doing. Star Wars vocab is hard :/

The assignment came well after midnight.  
Ahsoka was propped up against the kitchen counter, idly looking over a list of supplies Asajj needed her to gather, when her datapad suddenly chirped. She reached into a pocket on her utility belt, cocked her head to the side, and read over the message illuminated by the top of the screen. Kuid Nil, Brigian male, 6'2, mid-30s. Worth: 1,500 credits alive, 2,500 dead. Last seen near the Blue Spike's tapcafe. Deliver to the abandoned droid factory before sunrise.  
"Asajj", she called, reaching for her pack hanging from a hook on the wall. "I'm heading out."  
Something clattered in one of the bedrooms, followed by a disgruntled curse. Ahsoka rolled her eyes, tossing her pack over her shoulder, and started toward the noise. She poked her head into the room and watched, the corners of her lips twitching in amusement, and the woman hopping about the room on one foot.  
"Accident", she asked, lifting an eye marking at the large box spilling various objects at her feet.  
Asajj sent her a venomous look and leaned against the dresser beside her. "The bottom gave out, and I couldn't catch everything."  
"Right." She entered the room and crouched in front of the pile, examining the objects carefully. She picked up a cracked statue of a moon and shook her head. "I didn't take you for a collector", Ahsoka murmured, raising her hand to lift the pieces into the air.  
"I'm not", Asajj replied dryly. She rose her hand in turn and caught the pieces with ease before dropping them into the box. The remaining chest, vase, and assorted ornaments rose as well, then joined the moon in the box. She stood up, placed the box on the dresser, and began rummaging through it. "You said you were going out. Meeting anyone?"  
"Ah, sort of."  
Her movements faltered; she stared at Ahsoka out of the corner of her eye, then resumed her search. She lifted the vase and observed it with scrutiny. "A new assignment, I presume?"  
Ahsoka pursed her lips and shoved her hands into her pockets. "Yep."  
"Mm. You need to pick up some power cells when you're finished with that. The ones in the landspeeder are just about shot."  
She sighed, her shoulders slumping, and closed her eyes. "The speeder's grounded, the front door is hanging on by the hinges, the damn floor is caving in." She listened to the steady sound of rain-water falling into various bowls throughout the house and inhaled sharply. "This place is a mess. If tonight goes right, I should have the creds to buy us a light freighter. And a good one at that."  
The muscles in Asajj's arms tightened. "Of course", she said, her voice curt.  
She frowned and watched her partner as she continued searching the box. "Alright, then. I'll be back by first light. Keep an eye out. Stormtroopers are patrolling the area, and we don't need to draw any more attention to ourselves."  
Asajj let out an impatient breath and turned to face Ahsoka; one hand on her hip, she looked Ahsoka up and down and shook her head in derision. Ahsoka sighed and shifted her attention to a nook in the wall. She grabbed the two shivs hidden in the bowl of grains and added them to her belt. "I'll be careful", she reassured, making her way to the door.  
Asajj scoffed. "You said that last time", she reminded Ashoka. "And I don't think I need to remind you of how that went down."  
"That wasn't my fault."  
"It was your fault. You got sloppy and didn't cover your tracks. It took us weeks to lose those fuckers. And they were just a band of incompetents looking to settle the score. Imagine how much worse it'll be if we get on the Empire's radar just because you don't know when to quit."  
Ahsoka bit her lip and bent to tie her bootlaces. "I know when to quit, and this isn't the time. The troopers are here, Asajj. It's only a matter of time before this planet goes to shit. We need to get off world while we still can."  
"You can preach that to yourself, Tano. But I know what this really is."  
Ahsoka stiffened but kept her eyes on her left boot. "We're talking nearly 3,000 creds here. I have to take it."  
Asajj glared and crossed her arms. She remained quiet, then turned her attention to her nails. Picking at the long-since faded paint coating them, she clucked her tongue against the bottom of her mouth, smiling deviously at the bristle it brought from Ahsoka. "Your guy. Is he legit?"  
"I've done a few jobs for him before. He's good. Always comes through on the money and never sells out on a customer. Trust me."  
Asajj stalked past the young Togruta, brushing her gelid hands over her face before moving along. Pleased upon finding Ahsoka's eyes to be following her, she chuckles lightly and says, "After all this time, after all you've been through...you're still but a youngling at heart."  
"I'm nineteen", Ahsoka declared, abruptly drawing herself up and forcing her partner to turn around and face her. "I'm nineteen, and I know what I'm doing." She clenched her fists and let the Force settle around her like a wool blanket. The anger within her faded, and she blinked softly. "We've been partners for two years now. Two years. We've been shot at and locked up on more occasions than I can name. When are you going to stop treating me like I'm a liability?"  
"You kill for fun, Ahsoka", Asajj said, all traces of amusement melting away. She settled on the couch, ignoring the squeak of protest it gave, and propped her feet up against the arm. "When you show me there's more to you than a child looking for an adrenaline high, then you can ask me that question again. Until then." She picked at her nails and gestured her head towards the door. "Your assignment's waiting for you."  
Ahsoka stood, watching her lax figure on the couch. She sighed after a moment and walked towards the back door. "Cut the lights when you turn in", she muttered, closing the door behind her.  
. . .  
Nil was easy to hunt. Brigians rarely ventured out into the Backwater communities, and it was rather obvious that he was expecting something bad to happen. It was in the way he walked, stooped forward as if ready to sprint.  
Like a rabbit, Ahsoka smirked, lightly dashing across the rooftops.  
She paused, crouching against the edge of the roof and watched as Nil hesitated before walking down a dark alleyway. She hopped to the next roof, reaching for her shivs as she landed on the decaying building. Too easy for nearly three grand, she noted suspiciously. She trod along carefully, watching as he suddenly stopped and leaned against a dumpster. He rose his wrist to his mouth and began to speak urgently. She leaned closer, making sure she was still concealed, and listened intently.  
"I don't care how much it takes", he was whispering frantically. "Just get it here now. He knows I've got his stuff, and I cannot be on his list. You've seen what he does to guys who screw him over...Well, I obviously didn't think he'd find out! Piss off!" Nil picked his comlink off his wrist and angrily tossed it down the alley.  
Ahsoka quietly scaled down the side of her building and gently crept towards the man. She gripped her shivs tighter, trying to ignore the fierce pounding in her ears, and came up behind Nil. She wrapped one arm around his neck and swiftly shoved it through his stomach. He cried out and struggled against her hold, thrashing about and unsuccessfully trying to toss her to the ground.  
"Get off of me!", he shouted. He gasped and weakly clawed at the arm suffocating him. The sight gave Ahsoka a sick pleasure, and she dug her knee into his back. "Yeah, I don't think so, buddy."  
She moved to pierce the shiv through his neck. But just as the tip of the blade pressed against his skin, a voice called out to her, stalling both her movements and the struggling of her captive.   
"Stop!"  
Ahsoka paused, pressing the sharp tip against the man's neck. "Shit."  
"Drop him. Drop him right now."  
She maintained her stance and watched as a drop of red dripped onto the white blade.  
Something whirred to life behind her, and she instantly stiffened. "I said, 'drop him.' Please, do not make this harder than it needs to be."  
She sighed and loosened her hold on Nil, allowing him to fall from her arms and collapse on the alleyway floor. Hissing painfully, he clutched the deep gash in his stomach and backed away from Ahsoka.  
"This planet is crazy", he cried, stumbling to his feet. He shot his savior a grateful yet confused look, rounded the corner, and disappeared.  
Ahsoka scowled and turned to face the man behind her. Lifting her shiv once more, she started for the man. "You just cost me 2,500 credits. I hope you have something of value on you cause I..." She faltered and let her hand fall to her side once more. Likewise, the man allowed his stance to give.  
"Ahsoka", the man started, his face pale.  
She took a step back and dropped her shivs into the puddle of muddy water at her feet. She looked up at him with wide eyes and asked in a hoarse voice, "Kenobi?"  
Obi-wan slowly lowered his stun baton and stared confusedly at the young woman. "Ahsoka", he repeated. "What are you doing?"  
Ahsoka felt her lekku darken and promptly dropped her gaze to the ground. "I needed the money", she said. A crack of lightning flashed overhead and reflected in the puddle. She caught a glimpse of her weary, bloody appearance and gulped.  
"You needed the money", Obi-Wan asked, skepticism evident in his tone.  
"How are you alive", she returned, forcing herself to look up. "The Order killed off most of us, and they rounded up what little remained afterward."  
He smiled.  
Ahsoka stared perplexed and held her hands out in question. "What?"  
"Nothing. It's just...you said 'us'."  
She sighed and eyed him expectantly.  
"All right. I was undercover as a bartender when the Order went out", Obi-Wan explained with a light chuckle. "I hid out in cities for a while, waiting for everything to die down. There was a cargo ship heading off-world about a month after it all happened, and I snuck on." He shrugged and shoved his baton into its holster, keeping an eye on Ahsoka as he did so.  
"Ah. Right." It had begun to rain again, and she looked at the sky in annoyance.  
"Perhaps we should continue our conversation in a dry setting", Obi-Wan suggested, pulling his coat closer to himself.  
"Yeah, probably." She bent to retrieve her discarded weapons, slowing her movements when she saw Obi-Wan tense, and scratched her stomach. "There's a tapcafe not too far from here", Ahsoka suggested.  
"Or someplace less public? You look kind of conspicuous. We wouldn't want to cause a scene"  
She started to tell him about her reputation, about how people had more or less become accustomed to seeing her covered in blood, but thought better of it. She nodded and brushed a lek over her shoulder. "So where should we go?"  
"I don't live too far from here."  
Ahsoka frowned. "I don't know", she said slowly. She looked around him and cursed inwardly at the length of the alleyway.  
Obi-Wan stared at her for a moment. "Ahsoka. It's me."  
"I know. It's just hard sometimes; I run into old faces all the time, and it rarely ever ends well." She looked away, though, considering it. Going with him meant reliving the past and explaining the present, and she dreaded having to do either. But going home meant having to tell Asajj how she'd screwed up yet another assignment. Ahsoka looked up. She waved her hands and nodded towards him with a prolonged sigh. "Lead the way."  
Might as well put off another lecture for as long as I can, she thought glumly.  
. . .  
Obi-Wan's house wasn't as nice as Ahsoka had expected. It was a quaint little thing, not unlike the others surrounding it, and the faint scent of mold permeated the air. But, unlike her own house, the doors were still attached to the frames, and there was running water and electricity, so she tried not to judge too harshly.  
"I just moved in", Obi-Wan said sheepishly, catching her wandering eyes. "I'm still fixing the place up."  
"It's not that bad", she replied in a quiet voice. "Trust me, I've seen worse. You actually got a good deal on this."  
"Yeah, that's what my landlord tells me. But I'm not too sure I should trust him. He said the same thing to a lady at the market who bought a pack of power cells for 50 credits."  
"Of course, he did."  
Obi-Wan dropped the satchel around his waste into a bucket near the door. He then walked towards his kitchen area, Ahsoka trailing behind him, and took a seat at the table.  
"Have a seat", he said, gesturing to the chair on the opposite end.  
She rapped her fingers against the table and eased into the seat.  
The two remained quiet, Obi-Wan focused on lighting a candle in between them and Ahsoka pretending to be interested in the texture of her chair. The silence had just become slightly uncomfortable when the elder of the two suddenly cleared his throat. Ahsoka looked up, belatedly realizing her elbows were on the table, and dropped her arms to her sides.  
Obi-Wan smirked fondly and said, "It's fine." He paused, scratched his beard, and considered the layers of grime coating Ahsoka's body and the decadence reflective in her eyes; the movement wasn't captured by her eyes, as they were still preoccupied with the chair, but the sudden pulse of shame in the Force was enough to show the scrutiny wasn't missed. Obi-Wan cleared his throat before continuing. "Ahsoka. What happened?"  
She leaned against the back of her chair and closed her eyes. "Money's kinda tight right now. I need to stay on my feet, and odd jobs just won't cut it."  
"You're resourceful. Surely, there's another way for you to make money without resorting to this."  
Ahsoka leaned her head into her palm and sighed. "Maybe. But I need a lot, and I need it now. You've seen the Clo-Stormtroopers. They're looking for Force Sensitives again, and I can't risk getting caught or identified."  
He stared at her, unimpressed. "I sense a great turmoil within you, Ahsoka. You're in this for more than the money."  
She stared at her hands, the knuckles bloody and sore from a fight earlier in the day, and steadied her breathing. "I'm fine", she said, wincing at the hitch in her voice.  
"We've put people behind bars for doing what you're doing. Do you remember that?"  
"Kinda hard not to." Ahsoka looked the man over, taking in his split lip and tattered clothing, and rose an eyebrow suspiciously. "What were you doing in that alley?"  
He shrugged. "I happened to be in the neighborhood."  
"Really? You happened to be in a neighborhood three blocks from your own in a secluded alley to save a slimeball? And you also happened to have a stun baton on you?"  
"I'm as shocked as you. Er, no pun intended. c"  
Ahsoka leaned forward. "Listen. I just lost out on a lot of money. I think the least you can do is tell me why you got involved."  
"I was merely concerned for the man's life, Ahsoka. All things considered, you should be too."  
Ahsoka fell silent at that. It was comments such as those that made her wary of interacting with people from the past; there was always the chance that she'd be reminded of her previous affiliations, of her previous morals: a substantial risk in her line of work. Money excluded (because Obi-Wan and Asajj weren't wrong in their assumptions), it'd be difficult to derive joy from an assignment if she was to be reminded of her past life. "You don't like stun weapons", she eventually said with a weary smirk. "It upsets your stomach. You wouldn't willingly point one at someone unless you had a good reason."  
"You were going to kill him. I think that serves as reason enough", Obi-Wan reasoned in nonchalance.  
"How'd you know I was gonna kill him?"  
His eyes widened.  
Ahsoka sat back, her expression softening as she thought it over. "You're underground, aren't you?"  
He stood from his seat and walked towards the fridge. "Would you like a drink? I found an abandoned crate of whiskey the other day, and it's still a few days before the expiration date."  
She rose an eye marking. "Half a cup. I'm not much of a drinker."  
He poured two glasses, then walked back over to the table. He handed Ahsoka a small glass and took a sip of his own. Ahsoka pulled a face at the bitterness but continued nonetheless. It was kind of nice.  
"To answer your previous question", Obi-Wan began, lowering his glass from his lips. "Yes. I am working underground. I've yet to run into any other Jedi, but I have met some good people who agree some form of order needs to be reestablished."  
Ahsoka stared wide-eyed. "You're gonna take down the Empire?"  
"Oh, of course not. That's a disaster I plan on tackling another day. Right now, I just have a small band of friends who want to make life a little easier."  
"Easier how, exactly?"  
Obi-Wa swirled his cup, watching his drink in disinterest. "At the moment, we're mostly focused on killers. We got a lead a little while back that they're on the Holonet now. Apparently, they have a website where they post 'assignments' and wait for 'customers' to complete them." He took a long, slow sip and stroked his beard. "It's kind of impressive, actually. For such a gruesome profession, it's all quite organized."  
She sat her drink down and rubbed her hands over her face. "Okay, I get. You don't like it."  
"What gave it away", he deadpanned. "Bounty hunting is a tricky business. I've seen countless people turn to it out of desperation."  
"So what's wrong with me doing it", Ahsoka cut in. "What, are you disappointed? Did you expect more out of me? Is that it?"  
"No. I mean, I do expect more, but I'm not disappointed. I just know you're doing this for the wrong reasons. You have a number of skills, so finding a good paying job isn't the problem. If you're doing this, it's because you want to. You want to kill people."  
She stared into her glass. "You're the second person that's told me that today", she admitted quietly.  
Obi-Wan's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"  
"Yeah. Asajj said something similar right before I left."  
"Asajj? Asajj Ventress", he asked, his eyes darkening. "Well, you've certainly been busy."  
"Relax, she's reformed. In a way."  
"I see." He rose from he seat and walked over to her. He looked at her with worried eyes and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "If you won't listen to her, perhaps you'll listen to an old friend."  
Ahsoka met his eyes and shivered at the concern radiating from him. "Obi-Wan. I need this."  
He crouched beside her and listened intently.  
"It's so hard to feel anything now. I used to be so angry and sad and bitter all the time, but now I'm just numb. The only time I really feel anything, the only time I feel alive, is when I'm on an assignment. I can't give that up. It's all I have left."  
Obi-Wan tightened his grip on her shoulder. "Ahsoka. There is so much more to you than you think."  
"I kill people for fun", she spat, Asajj's words ringing in her ears. "That's literally all there is to it."  
"You're wrong, Ahsoka. You've merely lost sight of your path."  
"I don't even know what my path is! I left, remember?" She deflated and cursed at the prickling behind her eyes. "I don't have a path anymore."  
He shook his head. "Everyone has a path. It's up to you to decide if you wish to continue following it."  
Her bright blue eyes heavily conflicted, she turned to face Obi-Wan.  
"I know these past few years have been difficult, and not all of your struggles can be pinned on the Empire. But there is still good in you. You just have to be willing to find it."  
She took a shaky breath and rested her trembling hands on her knees. "How long?"  
Obi-Wan frowned. "How long what?"  
She wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. "How long are you gonna be on world?"  
. . .  
"Well, it's about time. I was starting to think you weren't coming back", Asajj called, pulling a grey shirt over her head. "I'm guessing the assignment was a bust?"  
Ahsoka strolled into the room, tossing her pack onto the couch, and shrugged. "He got away. It couldn't be helped."  
Asajj rolled up her sleeves and rose an eyebrow. "You don't seem particularly upset by that. Last time you blew a job, you threw a tantrum and took off for a week."  
She shrugged again, yawning and stretching her arms over her head. "Asajj, that was six months ago. I've matured since then."  
Asajj rolled her eyes and walked over to her partner, taking note of the splatters of blood on her shirt. "Right. Are you going to tell me what really happened, or do I have to wait until the blasters start firing?"  
Ahsoka crashed onto her cot and let her eyes fall shut. "I'll fill you in later. Oh, and I invited a friend over for dinner. Will you be in tonight?"  
Asajj shoved her feet into a pair of boots and shrugged. "I don't have any plans so probably. That a problem?"  
Ahsoka smiled softly, turning on her side. "No. Actually, I think the two of you would really hit it off."


End file.
